After panic buying an 'Innocent' smoothie in an attempt to convince myself that two of my five a day would somehow prevent alcohol from entering my blood stream, I made my way up to Notting Hill Gate anticipating another excellent night at YoYo. Despite initially forgetting where I was and having to ask an unfortunate looking man for directions, I found my way to the back of the queue for 10.30. Having struggled to get hold of T Williams who I was set to have a few brandy and cokes with, I spent the first hour on my own clutching can after can of Red Stripe and looking around for familiar faces.
A brief catch up with Seb Chew was to precede Baby Blue's faultless rendition of tracks old and new however, in an extremely professional performance. Tipped to be one of the next big underground top 40 exports akin to good friend Wretch 32, Baby Blue displayed all the credentials required to make it at the very top. Suitably impressed, I made my way to the bar to claim my fourth can of the night and strategically placed myself by the decks. Leo G and Seb were to spin some classic Hip Hop whilst waiting for special guest headliner Terror Danjah to arrive. Just as I'd given up hope of having anybody to talk to all night, I turned around to see Williams looking a little worse for wear after 12 hours at his studio; "You look like you need a drink man" I said. Within minutes of Williams' arrival, I was also greeted by another late comer, Mr Mitch and suddenly felt a bit overwhelmed by having friends. That aside, Seb was warming the crowd up nicely, dropping Preditah's 'Gargoyle' to widespread approval; the 'PRE-DI-TAH' sound bite alone tends to signal something great is about to happen. Almost on cue, Preditah himself arrived along with Birmingham's enigmatic 'Stay Fresh' whom were celebrating the end of their successful 'Bigga Fish' tour. After talking quite a bit of what was no doubt rubbish to Williams and Mr Mitch, I wandered over to introduce myself and probably talk more rubbish to Preditah and co before heading back to count down the minutes until Terror was due to step up. Despite writing about music, hanging around with the people that make it is still something I'm not used to, a fact amplified by Wookie casually walking past and saying hello to Williams: "Who was that?" I asked. "Ah, that was Wookie man." WOOKIE?! I couldn't believe it.
Now feeling quite the drunk, I made the excellent decision to swap Red Stripe for Jack Daniels before being introduced to Martelo and finally seeing Terror Danjah set up behind the DJ booth. The last time I saw Terror play back in April at Urban Nerds I lost my phone via a combination of having shit pockets and next hyping all over the Macbeth. Praying for better luck, it wasn't long before 'Full Attention' (arguably the tune of the summer) was reverberating around YoYo and Mr Mitch, myself and a tiring T Williams couldn't help but get caught up in the vibe. With Stay Fresh in celebratory mood, Macca and Casper were soon sharing mic duties too, adding polish to a set that was already gathering pace. Highlights included hearing 'Morph 2' and Preditah's 'Nosy Parker' VIP shake YoYo's foundations before Ray Keith's legendary anthem 'Chopper' and Shy FX's 'Original Nuttah' brought the night to a close in true Terror Danjah style. Although Macca and co were content to rave until 6 in the morning, another excellent night at YoYo had come to an end.
Terror Danjah in the mix at YoYo
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